Transport secretary refused unions meeting
Grant Shapps has refused to meet with rail unions as RMT members went on strike on Wednesday.
“It’s just a game by the unions,” the transport secretary said in an interview on Sky News.
Pickets were set up outside railway stations across the country on Wednesday morning as Network Rail RMT members and 14 train operators went on strike over jobs, salaries, pensions and conditions.
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Despite Wednesday’s rail strike, more passengers were attempting to travel than last month’s industrial crackdown, Reports PA News.
network rail said around 15% More people were using its stations than on Thursday 23 June, which was the second day that members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union went on strike.
Commuters were urged to travel by train only if necessary, though many passengers who arrived at the stations on Wednesday were unaware of the strike.
fabian ward Said, “I didn’t know that the strike would be fair, otherwise I would have gone.”
Here are the latest pictures coming from the stars:
Labor MP and Shadow Transport Minister in his latest statement Sam Terriu He said he was “proud to be on the picket line today” and said the government needs to “pay what they deserve” to transport workers.
Chief Political Correspondent for The Guardian Jessica Elgot Sam has tweeted some insight into Terry joining the rail strike picket line.
Lots of rumors that if Terry is unelected he might hope for another seat and that trade union support for him would be welcome. Clearly there is a principle at stake that many Labor MPs agree with and that it is difficult to continue the strikes a year ahead.
— Jessica Elgot (@jessicaelgot) 27 July 2022
RMT’s secretary general, Mick Lynch, says he will support a general strike if Liz Truss becomes prime minister and his promised anti-union law comes into force, Reports news.
You can read the full report here.
More MPs are joining the dharna and expressing solidarity with the striking railway workers.
At Leicester we are proud to stand in solidarity @RMTunion Striking members to protect jobs, pay and conditions.
Rail companies make an average of £500 million a year in profit.
The message is clear: Cut benefits, not services and jobs. pic.twitter.com/aSlDEiFb2L
— Claudia Webbe MP (@ClaudiaWebbe) 27 July 2022
The Transport Secretary should meet with the RMT to agree on a fair settlement for the railway employees to help resolve the dispute. @RMTunion
— Hilary Benn (@hilarybennmp) 27 July 2022
Former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn joins activists on the Pickett Line at Euston station in a show of solidarity today.
Talking to GB News, corbin Told:
In fact, the RMT is speaking out for many others today who are concerned about their future, their jobs and low levels of wages in this country at a time of very high inflation.
Chief Political Correspondent for The Guardian Jessica Elgot Sam Terry has tweeted some insight into what joining the rail strike picket line means for the Labor leader.
The situation in Sam Terry is very difficult for Keir Starmer. First, Terry’s interviews make a very valid point about supporting low-wage workers. But Terry is also facing a tough election in his constituency. After the members have voted to trigger the open vote… 1/2
— Jessica Elgot (@jessicaelgot) 27 July 2022
Labor in Labor pointed out that Terry was not one of the lawmakers to defy Starmer at the last picket line. “He’s trying to get sacked,” say multiple labor sources. But Starmer has the option of not doing so because shadow ministers were not sacked last time. Tough decision for Lotto.
— Jessica Elgot (@jessicaelgot) 27 July 2022
Some of the photos of the train attacks are on display in this gallery of today’s best photos, selected by Joe Plimer
The rail strike meant that Scotland is able to run a skeleton service on only five routes in Scotland today.
The PA has spoken to some of the affected passengers.
Shelley Little, 45, who was traveling from Edinburgh Waverly to Glasgow with her daughter, said:
No one has given us any information about what is happening. We had no idea. We just arrived at Waverly and he said that our train to Glasgow had been canceled on the notice board, but without any reason.
We were also delayed yesterday from Glasgow to Edinburgh.
The only person who has helped was a passenger who seemed to know a little more about what was going on. Nobody told us anything from the train company.
Today we have to pay to carry our bags because we are late. It’s annoying, and expensive.
Our target is to go back to England on Friday, but we don’t know what’s going to happen.
It is eaten in much of our time visiting Scotland.
Jessica Teale, who was traveling from Scotland to Australia, said she had to take an earlier train as her booked trip from Edinburgh Waverly had been cancelled.
Teal said:
The strikes have affected my travel, so I’m just making sure I act as soon as possible as I’m not sure what other services are going to be cancelled.
Not a great start.
Meanwhile, 18-year-old Sarah Johnson said the strike action had forced her to change her travel plans to London.
I was supposed to travel from Carlisle on my way to London, but had to change my route due to delays in services, so now I am changing to Glasgow.
According to the PA, the rail strike at Gatwick Airport railway station this morning has had little effect.
the countryside Report:
Trains to London Bridge, London Victoria, Three Bridges and Brighton are currently running on time.
There were significant delays and disruptions at the airport station during the rail strike action early last month.
Staff attendance at the platforms today is much less as compared to the strikes in June, where several workers were on duty at each platform to guide the passengers.
mick lynch has said that he will fight Grant Shapps to try to resolve the impasse over the railroad attacks.
talking to the countrysideAsked if there was an alternative to rail strikes, the general secretary of the RMT union said: “I could test by war … but I can’t think of it.” [another] Right now because we have been in talks for two years.
“But it would be interesting if I and Grant Shapps were face-to-face if he’s not too flippant.”
You can read the full report here
Here is a summary of the latest events…
- More rail strikes are already planned for the coming weeks. About 6,000 train drivers belonging to the Aslef union of eight train companies will be involved in a rail dispute during the strike on July 30. There are plans to repeat Wednesday’s action by RMT members in Network Rail and 14 train companies for August 18 and 20. Tube workers will again take strike action on 19th August.
- The Secretary of State for Transportation, Grant Shapps, said “Passengers are being taken along for the ride” by these “extremely hard-left unions”. Asked by the BBC if he was going to take the law to make the strike more difficult, Shapps replied: “Yes, and we’ve already started doing that.”
- Shapps also refused to meet with the rail unions.“It’s just a game by the unions,” he said in an interview on Sky News.
- Other lawmakers staged a sit-in or expressed solidarity with the striking activists across the country. MPs included John McDonnell, Paula Barker and Ruth Jones.
- Shadow Transportation Minister Sam Terry joins striking workers on the Pickett Line at Euston Station. Terry said: “This cannot be accepted anymore, people just have to accept that inflation is out of control. The government is doing nothing at the cost of the life crisis.”
- RMT’s union leader, Mick Lynch, said the offers he had at this time were unacceptable, And said the decision was not in the hands of a secret body, but in the hands of “the ordinary men and women who make up our union”, which is striking today.
- Network Rail’s chief executive, Andrew Haines, said he believed the RMT negotiators were being dismissed by those at the top of the union.And the deal must be put to subscription.
It’s from me, Geneva. My colleague Toby Thomas will keep you up to date with the latest developments over the next hour.